There is no I in motherhood | Milwaukee Women Photographer

Hey there first-time mom. Yes, you. This one is for you.
So, the nine months of pregnancy are over. You are most likely excited about that. No more waddling. Yay! And now you have this precious time with your newborn baby. It’s total bliss, right? Ha! Just kidding. It is HARD AS HELL!!!

You were already exhausted from giving birth and now...it is an around the clock partay of feeding, changing diapers, trying to figure out how to make the crying stop (yours and the baby’s).

There is not much time for yourself anymore. I know...I remember. Nine years ago when my daughter came into this world. Every part of my body hurt and I was SO tired. I don’t think I looked at myself in a mirror for months. I was just too busy caring for someone else.

I think back on that time and while I miss my daughter being a baby, I don’t miss how badly I treated myself in those days.

You are a new woman. Your body is different. You think differently. You even have a new name. It is so easy to forget about yourself. You forget to do even the most basic things for yourself like brush your hair or shower. So you definitely forget to do the big things for yourself like hope and dream, improve and enrich yourself.

You are a changed woman -- but you are not less and it is important not to forget about yourself for too long. As things become easier over time to manage motherhood, somehow the process of reconnecting with yourself becomes harder. You get buried, tucked away and set aside behind more and more. You shed more layers of yourself only to reveal more layers available to shed.

But at the center of if all is you, my friend. A beautiful, sexy, strong, creative and smart you.

My message to you is even if you are not sure you looked at yourself in the mirror today -- try not to forget to look within yourself everyday. Reclaim your identity, mourn all the things you miss about yourself and celebrate all the ways you are a new woman.

I, along with all the other mama’s that came before you, are cheering you on!